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If you would like your game to recieve an entry page in the audiogames.net database, please considder the following guideline points. In the past when games (such as the bgt example games), have not recieved entries it is usually because they fall short of one of the following guidelines. While these are! guidelines, and thus a game that is defficient in one area may be superior in another, it is generally worth considdering whether your game is good in all areas before requesting that a database entry be made for it.

1: accessibility.

Any game posted on the website must be fully playable and accessible using either game sound alone or a screen reader without reference to graphics. This means that a totally blind gamer can play it with approximately the same degree of effort as a sighted user.

A game which requires constant sighted assistance, memorization of a menue, unclear game sounds or some other time consuming activity to make it playable for a totally blind user is not accessible and therefore will not be listed, though games which merely require the alteration of some settings, such as turning on a blind compatibility mode are allowed so long as it is possible for a totally blind user on his/her own to turn this mode on with a minimum of effort the first time he/she runs the game.

2: successful running.

Does your game run successfully and smoothly without bugs or errors on the vast majority of users' machines for your chosen opperating system. It's very unlikely a game will get an entry in the database if few people can run it.

the odd bug or error code is fine, but a game that crashes nine times out of ten is generally not worth playing. If the error is serious enough to interfere with the game but not so crytical as to make it unplayable, a note will be placed on the entry page as with descent into madness' inability to save which may put potential players off.

3:Replay value.

Are the in game items and objects exactly the same when the game is replayed? A simon style game which never changed it's pattern would be rather pointless to play, sinse once memorized, the player simply has to in put the sequence to win, therefore no challenge is offered.

For interactive fiction or adventure games such as Chillingham, where (sinse the games run to a strict story), most elements will not change, this condition may be waved so long as the game may be continuously played for more than half an hour with the player discovering new content.

4: interaction.

How much can the player influence the outcome of the game? A game in which the player had to toss a coin ten times and get ten heads to win would be extremely dull and frustrating, sinse there would be litle the player could do to influence the course of events. Even when random factors such as dice are considdered there must be actions a player can take as well to influence the course of events, whether that is buying and selling properties as in monopoly or deciding upon which card to disgard as in Uno.

this condition may apply less if the game has multiple players, such as in the game of life or snakes and ladders, and thus other forms of social interaction are possible to the player, however generally game creators should strive to give their players as much freedom to influence the course of the game as possible.

5: experience.

Is it possible for a player to learn from experiences to improve his/her performance at the game, whether this is an improvement in strategic thinking or an improvement in reflexes.

A left right sterrio targiting game in which the targits appear at constant wrate and pitch which simply continues until the player is wrong is pretty uninteresting, because once the players reflexes reach a certain level, the player can keep going infinitely meaning the game only stops when a player gets board.

if however the targits increase in speed or frequency, then the player is offered far more of a challenge to continue and can indeed improve his/her performance over time.

6: atmosphere.

Do the sounds, music or text of a game contribute significantly to the world and ambience which it is trying to conjure up? A basic hit button beep game is uninteresting not only because it's gameplay is lacking, but because there is neither context nor story nor indeed point to the game.

Though this is difficult for some puzle or traditional games such as Simon, we would at least expect the game to present itself as a challenge to the player, with some sort of grim game over sequence or interesting sounds for the remembered tones.

if a game presents itself as a dull test of abilities simply saying "press this button" odds are it is a dull game to play too.

Note that these are basically guidelines and a game which is defficient in one area may stil recieve an entry because it scores highly in others. For instance, boppit ultimate has fairly simple press button style gameplay, but has several game modes to try, very good sfx and music, and gets faster as you play. Generally however when game creators work on a project, they should considder all the above points as important, sinse if a game is rejected it's usually because it has not come up to standard in one or more of the above areas.

As a person learns programming, it is necessary for them to create several practice games such as black jack simply to become proficient in the art of game creation. This is fully understood and indeed the reason why example games such as Usa black jack or the bgt example games exist. Whether such games are however fit to be an entertaining game for others to play and therefore a reasonable entrant into the database is quite another matter.

Reviews.

Audiogames.net welcomes reviews of games from it's members, however please be clear on the difference betwene a review, a walkthru and a gameplay recording.

review: A review is a recorded piece of audio which is intended to offer a particular players' opinion of a game whilst showing it's gameplay. For this reason, both the reviewer's speaking voice and! sounds of the game being demonstrated must be included in the recording together.

Remember that reviews are often heard by people who have not tried the game in question and want another person's opinion of it, as well as a demonstration of the game.

Reviews may be hosted on audiogames.net, please just send us the finished file using dropbox, sendspace or similar and links will be added to the reviews page and to game entries in the database.

walkthru: A walkthru is a full playthrough of all aspects of the game, demonstrating how it may be completed either for those who are stuck with a particular challenge in the game, or those who want information on other players techniques.

A walkthru may be written in text in the form of a faq, or recorded, however if recorded, as with reviews, the players voice must also be included in the file along with the recording of the game being played through offering advice or opinions. Both written textual faqs and audio walkthrus may be hosted on audiogames.net.

Gameplay recording: a gameplay recording is a short piece of audio demonstrating a game, but offering no opinions from the player. This may be used to show off certain techniques, or just as some fun.

Audiogames.net does not currently host gameplay recordings, but if one is hosted elsewhere it's possible a link may be placed on the games' index page.

Playthru: a playthru is similar to a walkthru, being a recording of one gamer playing through an entire game, however like a gameplay recording this simply involves the game audio itself, and no comments from the player. Audiogames.net does not currently host playthrus, but links may be placed on the games' page if the playthru is hosted somewhere else, as with descent into madness or x hour.